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Strange-Voiced Whale at Large in the Ocean
Reuters (via YAHOO! News) ^ | December 8, 2004 | Reuters

Posted on 12/08/2004 11:18:53 AM PST by mattdono

LONDON (Reuters) - A lone whale, with a voice unlike any other, has been wandering the Pacific for the past 12 years, American marine biologists said Wednesday.

Using signals recorded by the US navy to track submarines, they traced the movement of whales in the Northern Pacific and found that a lone whale singing at a frequency of around 52 hertz has cruised the ocean since 1992.

Its calls, despite being clearly those of a baleen, do not match those of any known species of whale, which usually call at frequencies of between 15 and 20 hertz.

The mammal does not follow the migration patterns of any other species either, according to team leader Mary Anne Daher.

The calls of the whale, which roams the ocean every autumn and winter, have deepened slightly as a result of aging, but are still recognizable.

The study by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, appears in the New Scientist magazine.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: cetaceans; coastalenvironment; marinemammals; tedkennedy; whale; zoology
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To: mattdono

21 posted on 12/08/2004 11:22:45 AM PST by evets (God bless president George W. Bush)
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To: mattdono

And liberals say the Military does nothing for conservation...


22 posted on 12/08/2004 11:22:45 AM PST by Echo Talon
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To: ken5050

His call probably haunts Mark Morford at night. Morfod must want to go pierce that whale with his harpoon.


23 posted on 12/08/2004 11:23:10 AM PST by dirtboy (Tagline temporarily out of commission due to excessive intake of gin-soaked raisins)
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Comment #24 Removed by Moderator

To: mattdono
..... singing at a frequency of around 52 hertz .....
Its calls ..... clearly those of a baleen ..... which usually call at frequencies of between 15 and 20 hertz.

A Soprano Whale.
It swims with the fishes.

So9

25 posted on 12/08/2004 11:23:44 AM PST by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
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To: mattdono

OMG! This is the Great White Whale, which was prophecied to come and lead all Whales out of bondage and into the freedom of the Promised Sea!


27 posted on 12/08/2004 11:23:55 AM PST by Chad Fairbanks ('Hate' is just a special kind of Love we give to people who suck.)
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To: Flyer; humblegunner; GOP_Thug_Mom; Allegra; TheMom; Xenalyte; bobbyd; thackney; Eaker; ...

Pinggggggggggggggggggggg


28 posted on 12/08/2004 11:24:33 AM PST by pax_et_bonum (When life gives you lemons, make donuts.)
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To: RockinRight
whale singing at a frequency of around 52 hertz

Singing or just talking? regardless, it's good that we're spending millions listening to whales sing.

29 posted on 12/08/2004 11:25:13 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: shaggy eel

Uh-oh shaggy.....time to change your frequency


30 posted on 12/08/2004 11:25:27 AM PST by PoorMuttly ("The right of the People to be Muttly shall not be infringed,")
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To: mattdono
"Whale at Large in the Ocean"

Where else would it be?

31 posted on 12/08/2004 11:26:01 AM PST by YouPosting2Me
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To: camle

Well, no, actually. And now, I'm kind of wish I hadn't posted the thread after that.


32 posted on 12/08/2004 11:26:15 AM PST by mattdono ("Crush the democrats, drive them before you, and hear the lamentations of the scumbags" -Big Arnie)
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To: ken5050

Nuke it!


33 posted on 12/08/2004 11:26:16 AM PST by BenLurkin (Big government is still a big problem.)
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To: dirtboy

I shall have nightmarea tonight, thanks to you...


34 posted on 12/08/2004 11:26:56 AM PST by ken5050
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To: mattdono

Wasn't this a Star Trek movie?


35 posted on 12/08/2004 11:27:46 AM PST by hushpad
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To: 1Old Pro
Singing or just talking? regardless, it's good that we're spending millions listening to whales sing.

More like billions.

We're actually listening to all the submarines of all the countries in the world. However the network also just happens to record whales as well.

36 posted on 12/08/2004 11:28:02 AM PST by Strategerist
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To: mattdono

Not me. I prefer a 60 cycle hum.


37 posted on 12/08/2004 11:28:02 AM PST by RightWhale (Destroy the dark; restore the light)
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To: mattdono

Some ocean Discovery channel type show briefly talked about the sound monitoring system and the guy was playing tapes of whales, etc.

He played one that was distinctly different than the other ones - sounded almost electrical or "alien" like - much weirder than the others. He said we have NO idea what this is - and said it comes from some remote area (Middle of the Indian Ocean?).


38 posted on 12/08/2004 11:28:22 AM PST by geopyg (Peace..................through decisive and ultimate VICTORY. (Democracy, whiskey, sexy))
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To: Chad Fairbanks

....and thanks for all the fish.


39 posted on 12/08/2004 11:30:17 AM PST by Roccus
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To: mattdono
A lone whale, singing tenor... arrrrr.
40 posted on 12/08/2004 11:30:23 AM PST by Jonah Hex (A Freeper is the real man a liberal's girlfriend wishes she had.)
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